Ask The Expert - Brain Young on Starting a Creation Ministry

Brian Young, an internationally known speaker and author, was a teacher and principal for ten years before becoming director of Creation Instruction Association. He has now been speaking on the topic of creation and Biblical authority for 22 years, doing debates at Universities, going into prisons, and sharing at churches, schools and camps around the world. He uses the Bible as the foundation for science and education.

This month, we've asked Brian to share his wisdom about starting and growing a Creation Evangelism Ministry.

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Dear Derek, thank you for your encouraging words. we have on 20th of June a creation day with a very brilliant creation speaker from USA Helmut Welke . Please pray for this event and good contacts to visitors .

just today I found an old file with informations about Brian W Grantham - Hill from Torquay Devon UK . He had a creation container . Old infos of 1999 , Torbay christian creation topics from creation science movement in uk .

I have old photografs of this ministries. may be, this brother don´t lives any more .?

I never had been in UK , even one of my youth group leaders of the 80ties is from Hemel Hempstead, UK. In my museum I have many exhibits about technology from UK ( Trevithick lokomotive, Watt steam engine , Stirling motor, ..... ) look at "creation museum moosbrunn" in www.youtube.com . I also have a PPT presentation for children about "industrial revolution in UK and the gospel" . I often make conducted tours in the museum and talk about great inventors from UK , which believed in the Bible .

Mathew, these things are in God's hands, it sounds like Germany needs a revival, though knowing Germany, the Spirit will have a hard job. However great things starts from small beginnings, just as a long journey starts with one step. So a few core prayer groups could start Germany moving in the right direction. I am encouraged that only politicians from Poland and UK were against the law, even though we are having the same problems here in the UK. Keep praying Mathew and keep following the prompting of the Holy Spirit. By the way, sorry we could not drop by last year to see your museum, but we were on a tight schedule and needed to get from Kempton to Callas to catch a ferry, next time maybe.

Thank you , Brian, for the detailed answers. The fact of a perfect earth in paradies , in the beginning , was the argument for my wife to change from theistic evolution to creation . ( you talked about this ... ). Please realize , that in USA are 10 to 100 times more creationists than in Germany . We have a huge problem here in Europe. France is the main leader in evolution propaganda . In october 2007 the EU parliament made a law to forbit teaching of creation in schools and public. Only politicians from Poland and UK were aginst this law , French politicians were PRO. In 2015 we have the GENDER laws in Germany ...they are only a result of evolutionistic thinking . We have a different situation here in Germany. An encouraging experience was the journey of my son in law in 2014 to Australia. I made the connection to CMI creation ministries international ( www.creation.com ) and he could work in this ministry for 10 weeks . In this time he became a creationist . In his christian church and family he was told theistic evolution.

I wonder how Louis Giglio can reach 10 thousands of young people ( age 18 - 25 ) with the message of creation in Chicago ? In Germany such an event would never happen because of the pastors and churchleaders.

I want to show evidence of creation . We also have models about Mt Ararat and Noahs ark. The creation museum Moosbrunn is very small, but we have conducted tours with duration from 1/2 hour to 3 hours. It is never bouring for the visitors in the age of 5 years to 90 years . I am sad, that there is not so much interest in the creation museum , even under Bible-centered Christians. I also make conducted tours in English language for foreigners . We are nearby Heidelberg .

Brian, I whole heartedly agree. I pastor a local church and just this morning was sitting in the hospital with a family whose mom was having a mastectomy. When the question of "How could God..." I was able to respond with the message that this is the effects of living in a fallen and broken world and that our hope is eternal in Jesus Christ. I am always amazed at how much peace people receive when they hear a Biblical explanation for death and suffering. I can not imagine having to stand alongside families in times of crises and suffering and try to defend God apart from the truth of His Word.

As for the younger generation I have always believed that young people want truth. I don't know if it is this way in Germany, but many churches hear want to entertain our youth, bribing them to come hear the Word and hoping a 5-10 minute devotional connected to 45 minutes of social and play time will change their lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying fellowship with other believers isn't important, I'm saying they want you to be real with them. Youth can find entertainment anywhere, they don't need the church to do that. In fact, the entertainment the word offers is far more exciting than what we can offer anyway. They want people who will stand up in love for what God's Word says. They want someone to be uncompromising and rebellious. Not rebellion against God's law, but rebellion against the Politically correct environment we live in where every answer has to be softened and we beat around the bush to be careful not to offend people with our words. They want to be challenged with truth. In my experience I have found youth to be very receptive when I have stood uncompromisingly on God's Word and gone against the flow of the PC society and even church. Address hard issues and don't shrink away or apologize for God's Word. Be proud to call sin sin and evolution a lie. The key factor in all of this however, is love. Don't be arrogant, but yet speak with authority. We have the Word of God and as Jesus spoke with authority and impressed even the Pharisees, we can have that same confidence knowing the Word does not come back void. Youth generally want to know the tough questions and have evidences of a young earth, creation, where Cain got his wife, etc.

With all of that said, I realize many still aren't going to listen. God has warned us of this so don't be discouraged if they don't come flocking to you, know that God is drawing those who will listen and He is working while you remain faithful.

As for the pastors, I believe the most important thing for them to hear is how the creation message affects the Gospel. Most have never made the connection that death could not have been here (as supposedly witnessed in the fossil record) without man sinning and bringing death into the world. If death was here before man, death isn't the curse of sin and thus Jesus' death on the cross would not have had any meaning or purpose in taking that curse away. We know Jesus' death was meaningful and it was the curse of sin he took, conquering death in His resurrection. Without this Gospel connection, creation is seen as divisive and unimportant to many pastors. In addition, they need to hear how creation is a Biblical authority issue. They need to hear and see how denying Genesis makes one deny other books of Scripture. They need to hear statistics of why people leave the church when they no longer accept the Bible as God's Word. Some excellent resources for this are Ken Ham's "Already Gone", "Already Compromised" and "the Lie" books all available from Master Books. Take some of this information and do whatever it takes to get it into the hands of these pastors. Make presentations and displays explaining this concisely in your museum. Bring in speakers to discuss this in weekend seminars and offer free breakfast/lunch for pastors and leaders to come hear a special message to help them see why they need to promote the weekend seminar etc.

Matthew: Whether we be German, French or any other nationality the answer is the same. While culture does sometimes affect how we approach people, the message doesn't change. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God is what changes hearts. Throughout the years I have seen two things be extremely important in getting that Gospel Word out; the Law of God and the message of creation. I'm seeing in America a vast number of church leaders accepting theistic evolution over creation and Biblical authority. Some of my favorite resources to direct these people to are "Refuting Compromise" and "Old Earth Compromise" books. I wish there was an easy answer for this but I think one of the problems is people are far more interested in being entertained than being educated. Perhaps we have created this problem by teaching our youth life is all about entertainment. In any case, it is hard to get people to care enough to take time to actually search it out. Most of the people I run into believing in theistic evolution have believed what they have heard and never really taken the time to search out the young earth side of things. They don't know their Scriptures well either (they usually can point to a few verses here and there but don't know how those verses fit into context or how it relates to the rest of the Bible). This is why ministries like yours are so important. We need to offer resources to these people and challenge them in ways that makes them want to learn more. I think by presenting answers to some of the typical hard questions often creates an appetite for more. Questions like how could people live 900 years before the Flood? How do we know dinosaurs lived with man? What evidences do we have for a global flood? What evidences do we have AGAINST evolution, a local flood, dinosaurs being millions of years old etc. Keep preaching and it will hit the mark. "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom 10:14-15). It is a struggle but know that our job is to remain faithful and do what God has asked. I wouldn't expect mass turnings to the truth as the closer we come to the end the more corrupt christians seem to become. God warned in Peter "you must understand scoffers WILL COME." Also in 2 Thess 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed." This is a sign of the times which is why I believe preaching the Law of God and repentance causes people to take the Word more seriously. A great ministry for info on that is "Way of the Master" with Ray Comfort. In a world that is being prepared for the LawLESS one, we need to become lawFUL.

Randy: Yes I do set up resource tables when I speak and it is a good source of revenue. Master Books is very helpful in every way. They give a good discount and often have sales and promotions that help out even more. Revenue isn't the only reason I have these resources though. I have found that people will purchase material to learn more after you speak, but rarely will do so the next day. Getting material into people's hands is how they continue to grow and learn. I have had many people tell me how they were blessed by some book or DVD they purchased. Those materials also get passed on to others who were not at the presentation. In other cases, those resources are a reminder to them of the presentation and your ministry. So, yes it is helpful for the ministry financially, but also helpful in spreading the message. In some cases I get good enough deals that I will even give materials away, especially to younger people. In other cases, the discount I get from Master Books allows me to discount the material to help others save. In short, I would recommend having these resources in your ministry.

From your website I can see that you have a number of personal resources available and I know you also carry some Master Books materials as well. What is your strategy regarding the sales of Creation books and resources? Does this create a revenue stream for you? Do you have do a resource table when you speak?

If there are people who forsake their wives and children for a ministry, then I would judge that their involvement in the ministry, is not of the Lord, Craig. God does break up marriages, it was the first decree that God made in Genesis 2:24-25 "24

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."

We are charged to test all things to see if it agrees with God's word, and abandoning ones spouse is not compatible with being 'one flesh'. Anyone who forsakes his family for ANY reason contravenes God's law and God will not bless their ministry.

The reason for this is that in America there are men who forsake their wife and children to "go into ministry." I am not speaking to ministry in general, as in sharing the gospel and helping to edify our fellow brethren. However, what I do mean is becoming a part of a program or organization.

And, amen! The local church, and the global church, is our family! :-) May we follow the Lord, tend to our family, serve in the church, and hear from the Lord regarding our call of putting our hands to work in the marketplace.

I am not sure that I would put ministry in the last position Craig. If God sends us on His ministry He will always take family into consideration, especially our marriages, those He ordains and blesses. We are called to leave our parents and give ourselves to God's purpose. God will never however tells us to leave our spouse for any ministry. Our priority (my wife and mine) is, God first (including ministry) family and church, although the church should also be regarded as our family.

Great conversation y'all! Praise the Lord, Mr. Brian, for all that He has you doing!

As far as "launching" a ministry... waiting upon the Lord cannot be overstated.

God first, family second, local church third, ministry last. That is how many of my friends and I go about our daily lives; keeping our eyes fixed upon Jesus who is the author and pioneer of our faith.

That being said, in the waiting be sure you are seeking first the Kingdom of God through prayer, His Word, worship and fellowship. :-)

Delay of vision is something God has been doing for millennia. I'm sure God has any number of reasons for this, but one I'm starting to see clearly is helping us be primed when the time comes.

What if a once in a lifetime opportunity came up and we didn't recognize it? Having us long for a ministry, turning our desires over to God, and preparing ourselves in advance makes a lot of sense.

If we look at whatever we have available right now as boot camp and training, we'll be all set to pounce on any big opening that comes our way. We'll recognize it and (perhaps most of all) appreciate it for the God-thing it is.

BTW I completely get the difficulty of waiting. I'd like to be at conventions getting the word out about my book so badly. But I've got a tiny daughter who needs me. She has to take precedence over my ministry during this season.

Since it's God's assignment, I know He will bless me and the work for obeying Him over my own desires. He's the boss, I'm the servant.

Well said Derek. That is why I mean when I say God makes it grow. Those ten years I wanted to be doing full time ministry wasn't the time for me to do it. Our biggest role is to be faithful to hold up the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we do that, God will use it, just not always how or when we think.

Joe, I do question personal ambition in ministries, it is God, through His Spirit, that blesses a ministry, we are merely to make ourselves available to do His work. Many years ago I made myself available and God gave me opportunities to speak in many venues, then that dried up for many years, although I continued to be active within another organisation. A few years ago I started up three web-sites, web-sites that were free and I (hope) I did as the Spirit prompted me as to its design and content. I have never aggressively advertised the sites, I just depended on God and word of mouth. The websites enjoy a high number of hits every month, totaling over a thousand, with the resources site having hundreds of downloads internationally. The point is, Just leave it to God and the guidance of the Spirit, it's His ministry in any case.

There isn't just one way to "launch" a ministry and different things work for different ministries and styles. One thing is to be sure your ministry stands out among others by being dynamic, entertaining, uncompromising and affordable.

I think when first starting out free will offerings are a good way to go. Many churches do not have the finances to bring people in but are willing to do so for an offering. As you continue to spread out, keep a good record of where you have been, who invited you, what you spoke on etc. After a year give them a call back again to see if they would like you to return.

I think many of us have struggled with the same problem. Fact is, it is like anything people do, it takes hard work and "pounding the pavement" so to speak to build a ministry up. It took me ten years before I was able to go full time.

It may be good to talk to some of the local places you have been and see if they know some pastors/youth leaders that you could contact. Often they will know pastors who have moved elsewhere and would be interested in having you come. You could also put together a short promo video and send it to churches. If you don't want to use CD's or DVD's just get emails and use other social media to spread the word. You can also put together an advertising package with brochures, quick facts and information that you discuss as well as why this information is so important. Send this to churches and schools as well.

There are good books out there for ministry models and how to grow a church etc, but I have always felt that God needed to make this ministry grow and on His time. That doesn't mean we sit back and wait but don't get discouraged if things don't take off as quickly as you would like.